so the episode ordering setting is non functional as designed?
No it functions as expected when the data from the source isnāt bad.
Ok, Iām beginning to understand. so even if I tell it to use the tvdb ordering it will still look at tmdb because it doesnāt really look at either it looks at the one plex maintains?
If there is an issue with either one of those it will break no matter what my setting is?
It sounds like a maintenance nightmare, I donāt suppose thereās an easier way to alert Plex staff on these issues?
@ecto1a2003 the root issue is that the episodes where incorrectly tied to each other. In tmdb (example, not accurate) S02E01 was labeled as Bob, and linked to tvdb S02E05 which is labeled as Greg.
Normally when determining order, tvdb S02E01 is tied to tvdb S02E01 (IE episode Bob on both sides) sometimes tvdb might call Bob E02. If Both sides point to Bob, and correctly to the following episodes, that setting uses whatever order tvdb has. However When its A=>B instead of A=>A it confuses plex. tmdb said A=B, instead of A=A.
Hope that clears things up.
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I totally get that, my issue is the setting. A setting that says uses tvdb as the source of truth, after that who cares what tmdb has to say.
That only matters for episode ordering, the actual metadata is an amalgamation from multiple sources.
Yes, thatās why I opened this. I told it to use tvdb airing order and it didnāt.
The titles are now correct but the thumbnails are all wrong now.
Any ideas on how to fix the thumbnails? Iām about ready to go back to the old tv agent that worked as expected.
Hello, I have noticed mp4s have been having an issue showing up in the library. I read this thread and noticed they are mp4s. I am having issues with anything in mp4 format showing up on plex. If I delete the file completely from my NAS (not just plex) and add it again, sometimes this fixes it. Not every time though.
@mrpaule please create a new thread, explain what is happening, and post your server logs
Any update for thumbnails being wrong?
Iāve reverted to the old tvdb agent, works as expected.
I hope the Plex tv agent gets fixed before Iām forced to use it.
I wonāt respond on weekends normally as I take that time off.
The thumbnails are wrong because we prefer the ones from TMDB first and because those episodes are all messed up so are the images. I opened a report on TMDB to ask them to remove all the images from the season 2 episodes - you can track it here: Reported Problem for Season 2 - Discuss The Real Ghostbusters ā The Movie Database (TMDB)
totally get it, sorry for the mini rants. I now have a pretty good idea how this all works now. Iāll stick with the tvdb agent.
As will I. I donāt see how anyone with a sizable TV library organized per TheTVDB could transition to the Plex TV Series scanner+agent given these hard-coded biases toward TMDB data. Until Plex gives us the option to bias the new agent toward TheTVDB in all respects, or some fairy godmother magically fixes all the misalignment between TMDB and TheTVDB, we have no choice but to continue using the legacy scanner and agent. Which - to be clear - works just fine.
The new Plex Movie scanner+agent, on the other hand, has been great for me! (probably because it didnāt involve switching data sources)
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Been following this thread, and while I agree with most thatās been said, I can tell you that transitioning is doable, if youāre willing to put a little bit of work into it afterwards. I upgraded about a year ago with a collection of about 3,400 shows/125,000 episodes. The process resulted in roughly 1,000 episodes being mismatched and/or not properly recognized. Took a while to go through all of them, but most of the fixes were necessary not because of the transition from TVDB to TMDB, but rather due to all databases being constantly edited/updated. This is unavoidable regardless of scanner/agent, and happens whenever I do a major metadata refresh. The vast majority of shows are always identified properly and ordered the way I prefer (TVDB). YMMV, of course.
I had a fairly painless initial transition, I switched back because with the new agent I have no control over where the data comes from. If it tell it to use tvdb and its bad on tmdb then too bad. That is unacceptable for me, what used to be an easy fix by changing the method used in the series is now: come here, wait for plex to notice then wait up to 72 hours after its fixed on tmdb. then wait for it to break again because someone messed up the data again and thereās not protection against that either.
It would be nice if plex would stop removing functionality for users and force us to use the platform exactly how and when they want.
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Iām glad tmdb is working for you and others as a tv source. My library has more than 20 shows that donāt exist at all in tmdb. The number of shows with deviations across multiple seasons is beyond counting. I contribute to tmdb, tvdb, and imdb. Imdb consistently treats things aired within a tv series as an episode. (I donāt always agree with it, but itās consistent.) Tmdb nuked a program I added as a movie because they found it on imdb as an episode of Great Performances. Fair enough, but years later many such programs are still in tmdb as movies, and the GP seasons and episodes are a disaster. Meanwhile, GP at imdb and tvdb are fully formed.
Long-running tv series are notoriously hard to organize, and PBS has some of the dodgiest. Sequence alterations, season breaks, etc. But I donāt think itās right for Plex to expect customers to invest countless hours resolving such data issues. The beauty of the new movie agent is that it combines the best of both worlds - imdb and tmdb. The new tv agent should have done the same with imdb and tvdb. Iām sure there are reasons they didnāt, but I donāt think they understand how big the problem isā¦still. Why reinvent the wheel?
I think you misunderstood part of my post. Yes, I did get everything to show properly after fixing a bunch of shows manually, but I donāt use TMDB (ordering) wherever I can avoid it. TVDB has always been and still is my preference. Mixing both was never a good idea in my book, as it can create a huge mess. I also much prefer the show-specific actor portraits on TVDB, but those were never useful within Plex due to them not being tied to just one show.
What I would really like to see is a properly implemented NFO file system for TV shows, like weāve always had with movies, where an IMDB/TVDB/TMDB ID can be read by Plex to identify a show. This works 100% with movies.
(and no, I donāt like putting IDs in my file/folder names 
)
